Sweden's Rebecka Harding rewrote the history of the Dubai International Sailing Week Regatta by becoming the first female overall winner after producing a stunning show on the last day of the competition on Friday.

After hanging in second place for the last two days, the Swedish top seed swept past Italy's Lorenzo Carloia to snatch a memorable victory in this Dubai International Marine Club (DIMC) hosted event. The turning point of the final day was Carloia slipping to 16th in the first race while Harding held off a credible sixth and then rounded off a brilliant first in the following race. "I am really delighted to win this event. And I feel it is not something that everyone can achieve," said a delighted Harding.

Harding, who turns 16 next month, added: "It is very hard to accept that I can't be in Optimist any more as this is the maximum permitted age in this class. But I will continue sailing in Europe class and hope to one day make it to the Olympic level."

Harding had a poor start in the first race. But when the wind started moving, she managed to tackle the shifts properly and ended up with better results than her nearest opponent Carloia. After 11 races and two discards, Harding's scoresheet read 3-2-3-4-1-4-4-6-1 and placed her a point lower (28) than Carloia (29) at the top of the table. Fredrico Maccari of Italy who hung on top through the first two days finished fourth.

The Swede also bagged the girls overall title. Astrid Zweistra and Nikola Ocenasova of Holland came second and third respectively.

"Once again we had abnormal weather conditions and this delayed the start for almost an hour. But in general we are happy that we could have 11 races, which allowed competitors to discard two races and count nine," explained race officer Brian Hooper.

The third edition of the event thus ended on a high note and Sid Ahmed Bensalah, regatta chairman, like everyone involved with the competition, expressed total satisfaction."I am so glad that once again we were able to run the event in the best possible way. And, to have a female winner in the event is a big achievement."

Sid also said that the event is getting bigger every year. "Already this event had gained reputation around the world. In the next few years it could also become one of the biggest Optimist event in the world," he predicted.

According to provisional results after 11 races, Abdulhakim Bin Dasmal of the UAE held the top position in Optimist junior category. Fredric Jacobs, representing the DIMC came second and Zeyad El Bokl of Egypt was in third place.

The Laser 4.7 class that featured teams from Bahrain and the UAE saw Mohanna Al Dossari of Bahrain winning with a tally of 16 points. He was followed by Abdulaziz Yaqoob (24) also of Bahrain and Abdulla Al Romaithi (36) of the UAE in second and third places.

Shamsa Bin Dasmal of the UAE, the lone female participant in this category, walked away with the girls trophy for Laser 4.7.

The official prize presentation followed by a gala dinner of the five-day event was held at the Le Meridian Mina Seyahi, Dubai later on Friday.

"The attendance of sailors from all over the world shows that Dubai is always a safe place to come and the UAE spells peace," said Saeed Hareb, managing director, DIMC, referring to the prevailing political situation in the region.

"All these sailors will now go back to their respective countries and spread the word of peace while they were here. They are our ambassadors."

Tom Burton (AUS) and Alison Young (GBR) hit the right note in the Laser and Laser Radial at ISAF Sailing World Cup Melbourne as they took out the top honours and qualification spots to the 2015 ISAF Sailing World Cup Final.

It was double Australian gold in the Paralympic classes. Matt Bugg (AUS) came out on top in the 2.4mR whilst London 2012 Paralympic SKUD18 gold medallists Dan Fitzgibbon and Liesl Tesch (AUS) were triumphant in the two person keelboat.

Lithuania's Juozas Bernotas came out on top in the Men's RS:X whilst Russia's Stefania Elfutina was triumphant in the Women's RS:X. Both sailors claim the first Abu Dhabi ISAF Sailing World Cup Final spots whilst Jock Calvert (AUS) and Joanna Sterling (AUS) picked up the Oceanic spots for the Emirati finale.

There was some fast paced action in the 49er and 49erFX Medal Races at ISAF Sailing World Cup Melbourne as Nathan Outteridge & Iain Jensen (AUS) and Maia & Ragna Agerup (NOR) claimed the honours and Abu Dhabi final spots.

A tight group of five young Papua New Guinean (PNG) Laser sailors are stepping up their 2015 Pacific Games competition program using this week's ISAF Sailing World Cup Melbourne. PNG is one of 33 countries represented at the important Oceanic event, the largest Olympic sailing regatta in the southern hemisphere.

Melbourne, Australia will host the final Rio 2016 Paralympic Games qualification regatta in 2015. With just under one year until the event, the 2015 IFDS Worlds was launched at ISAF Sailing World Cup Melbourne.

ISAF Sailing World Cup Melbourne kick starts the journey to the 2015 ISAF Sailing World Cup Final in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates with qualification spots and top ranking points available in the Australian city.

Shawn Bennett (USA) won the Long Beach Stop of the 2015 California Dreamin' Series Sunday in this International Sailing Federation (ISAF) Grade 3 match racing regatta hosted by Long Beach Yacht Club and raced on the Long Beach Sailing Foundation's fleet of Catalina 37s.

After the limits of the southern oceans imposed by the combination of the weather systems and the safety barrier of the Antarctic Exclusion Zone, the Atlantic is opening up for the top trio of the Barcelona World Race.